Article 1-11 Roadside Commercial District

Lots abutting multiple streets shall be oriented so the front of the building faces the street of lower classification unless the Planning Board grants access to the street of higher classification allowed under this section. For lots with frontage on both Main Street or Ossipee Trail and another street, the buildings, parking lots and access drives shall be located a minimum of 25 feet from Main Street or Ossipee Trail. Lots with frontage on Main Street shall meet the design standards within this section.

All generators, HVAC units, outdoor storage areas and dumpster pads shall be landscaped so that they are not visible from any public street or residential properties. The Planning Board may allow generators, HVAC units, outdoor storage areas and dumpster pads to be located so they are not located behind the buildings if the Board finds that the proposed locations are required to provide for a better overall design of the lots/development and they are sufficiently buffered from public roads and residential properties.

Lots will be designed to have not more than one double-loaded row of parking between the building and the street or private way providing access to the lot. The access aisle to the parking space shall be only the minimum necessary to provide access to the parking spaces.

(2)

Utilities.

All developments and subdivisions shall connect to public water and sewer meeting the requirements of the Portland Water District and the Town of Gorham.

[1]

The Planning Board may grant a waiver for public water main extension if the lot is located greater than 200 feet from the nearest water main and the proposal meets the determination of unreasonable costs under Part 2, Article 2-10, Provision of Utilities.

[2]

The Planning Board may grant a waiver for public sewerage main extension if the lot is located greater than 200 feet and the costs to connect into the system is greater than three times the costs for an on-site sewage disposal system as identified by the Planning Board.

(3)

Buffer yards and landscaping buffering shall conform to following standards:

There shall be at least a twenty-five-foot-wide landscaped buffer between any public or private road.

There shall be at least a fifteen-foot landscaped buffer between any abutting properties with residential uses. That there shall be at least a ten-foot landscaped buffer between any other abutting developed parcels.

The landscape buffer shall contain an adequate mix of trees, shrubs, plants, hardscapes, berms, topography, and other landscaping features that adequately break up the proposed development.

The Planning Board may allow the use of native forested area in place of the required landscaped buffer if the Board finds that the existing forest buffer is a minimum of 35 feet wide and provides the required screening to adequately break up the view of the development. No cutting of existing trees will be allowed in the native forested buffer area. Dead, diseased and dying trees may be removed with the approval of the Town Planner.

(e)

The landscape buffer area shall require a plan to be prepared by a licensed landscape architect or qualified landscaping firm. The plan shall provide all the required submission requirements outlined under Part 3, Subdivision, and/or Part 4, Site Plan Review. The name of the landscape professional and firm preparing the plan, along with their credentials, shall be provided with the landscape plan.

(4)

Building design standards.

The predominant exterior building materials shall be of high-quality materials, including, but not limited to, wood or vinyl clapboard sliding, masonry units that replicate shake or clapboard siding, brick, sandstone, wood, native stone and tinted/textured concrete masonry units and/or glass products or metal or plastic roofing that simulates shake or shingle roofing. Simulated material may be substituted for any of the aforementioned building materials.

At least three different materials shall be used for the primary front facade for the building facing the primary street the building accesses and/or Main Street. The Planning Board may waive the building material to two different materials if it finds the building design has enough architectural details to sufficiently break up the massing of the building. Glass for use in windows and doors shall not be considered one of the required building materials. All facades that have frontage on a street or private way shall be considered a primary facade.

Exterior building materials shall not include smooth-faced concrete block, tilt-up concrete panels or T-111. Prefabricated steel panels are excluded unless they contain architectural details with intricate designs. Metal roofs may be allowed if compatible with the overall architectural design of the building.

Building and other structure colors. Exterior colors shall be of low-reflectance, subtle, neutral or muted earthtone colors. The use of high-intensity colors such as black, neon, metallic or fluorescent colors for the facade and/or roof of the building is prohibited except as approved for building trim.

(5)

Access management.

Entrances and uses in this district shall be combined to the maximum extent possible. Developments must allow for vehicular access into the lot's driveways, sidewalks and/or parking lots from the abutting properties.

For lots with frontage on Main Street, Ossipee Trail and another street the access drives shall be located off the street of lower classification unless the Planning Board finds that no safe alternative exists.

A parcel that does not have frontage on Main Street or Ossipee Trail shall not be granted vehicular access from the street except in cases where access will be provided through a combined entrance with another parcel which has frontage on the street.

Lots with access on Main Street or Ossipee Trail must have driveways located so that they are a minimum of 400 feet from another driveway on the same side of the street unless:

[1]

The Planning Board finds that the distance would provide for an unsafe circumstance.

[2]

The driveway's spacing to abutting properties' driveways cannot be spaced to meet the 400-foot minimum requirement. The Planning Board shall provide for driveway spacing to the greatest extent possible.

(6)

Outdoor storage of equipment, supplies, machinery, commercial vehicles, and other materials may be permitted pursuant to the following:

Outdoor storage shall be an accessory use to the primary permitted use on the property. Outdoor storage areas shall be limited to the following:

[1]

Locations that are visible from the street or an adjacent primary residential or commercial structure:

[a]

Lots up to five acres: 25% of the lot area.

[b]

Lots between five acres and 10 acres: 15% of the lot area or 1.25 acres, whichever is greater.

[c]

Lots above 10 acres: 10% of the lot area or 1.5 acres, whichever is greater.

[2]

Locations that are not visible from the street or adjacent primary residential or commercial structure:

[a]

Twenty-five percent of the lot area based upon the applicant successfully demonstrating to the Board or Site Plan Review Committee that visibility is precluded by topography, vegetation or by other means.

[b]

The applicant shall provide written documentation to the Board or Site Plan Review Committee that all means used to satisfy the intent of this section are either owned or under acceptable lease by the applicant and will be preserved and remain undisturbed for the duration of the permitted outdoor storage use.

Outdoor storage areas shall be fully screened from the street view (except for necessary access drives) by buildings, fences, walls, landscape buffers or by topographic features such as earthen berms, or a combination thereof. The proposed method of enclosure shall have a height sufficient to completely screen the storage area and shall have a minimum height of eight feet.

Existing topography, vegetation, buildings or other structures may be utilized, in whole or in part, to achieve the screening noted above. The applicant must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Board or Site Plan Review Committee that these existing features meet the intent of this regulation.